فصلنامه میقات حج
پیاپی 111 (بهار 1399)

The study and analysis of the historical sociology of Shiite religious rites in the Hajj travelogue of the Qajar period are one of the objectives of this research. Based on the necessity of using sociological approaches in the analysis of historical phenomena and using library references and a descriptive-analytical method, this research seeks to raise this question that what the rituals and symbols of Shiites in the pilgrimage to the Baqī Cemetery were during the Qajar period. To answer this question as the main purpose of this study, the following hypothesis was tested that verbal and behavioral rituals through various variables such as appealing to the Imams (AS), visiting the graves of the Imams (AS), mourning over the tragedy of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), and spiritualism played a key role in the pilgrimage to the Baqī Cemetery in the Qajar period. The research findings show that discovering the hidden truths of the rituals, representing the symbols of the religious rites of the Baqī Cemetery, and getting to know more about that reality during the emotional connection with the symbols by performing collective rituals, also creating emotional energy and collective belonging to the realization of the fundamental principles of the rituals were achieved as the consequences of the pilgrimage to Medina and the Baqī Cemetery.

One of the important issues about the Baqī Cemetery is the interest or non-interest of its pilgrimage by Muslims. After proving the interest in the pilgrimage to the Baqī Cemetery, there is also a discussion on how to go on its pilgrimage. Following a discussion of the Sunni scholars’ viewpoints, there is a matter worthy of attention. An overview of the books of Sunni scholars in this regard shows that they issued a fatwā on the desirability of the pilgrimage to the Baqī Cemetery following the Prophet (S). Meanwhile, in his book entitled “Irshād al-Sālik ilá Af’al al-Manāsik”, Burhan al-Din ibn Farhun, one of the scholars of the Maliki religion in the 8th century, explained the visiting of the Baqī Cemetery in detail and provided Ziyaratnameh (shrine greeting) for each of the figures buried in there including Fatimah Zahra (assumed she was buried there), the four Shiite Imams, Ibrahim, the son of the Messenger of God (S), and the others. In this article, the views of some Sunni scholars, especially Ibn Farhun’s views, are examined.

Baqī is a famous cemetery in the city of Medina, which, according to the narrations, has virtue and a privileged spiritual position; and after migrating to Medina, the Prophet of Islam (S) was instructed by God to choose it as a burial place for Muslims and go there to pray and ask for the forgiveness of the dead. In this article, written in a descriptive-analytical manner, first, the reasons for the virtue and privileged position of Baqī are examined and then the way the Prophet of Islam (S), Ahl al-Bayt (AS), and the Companions visited Baqī and their concern for that cemetery are mentioned. The study of historical narrations and reports shows that Baqī, as a holy place, was always considered by the Prophet of Islam (S) and he performed a part of his worships and prayers of God Almighty in there. He was commissioned to bury the dead of Muslims there and to pray and ask for forgiveness for those buried in that cemetery. Also, the family of the Prophet (S), and following his way, his Companions paid serious attention to the place and pilgrimage of the buried. This has made Muslims pay attention to Baqī throughout history and attend it with the aim of visiting, praying, and asking for forgiveness.

The historical study of the construction in the Baqī Cemetery and its development and transformation is one of the important issues about this Cemetery. This article seeks to provide a clear picture of this civilizational aspect of the Baqī Cemetery by examining the descriptions provided about this cemetery in the historical references and travelogues. Construction in the Baqī Cemetery can be studied from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives; while, the author discussed only the quantitative aspect taken place in several stages. This means that the buildings in the Baqī Cemetery were changed from residential to mausoleums and tombs, and the domes of Baqī increased from three in the 6th century to fourteen in the 11th. Historical studies show that the Fatimah Mosque (Bayt al-Hāzin) is the only building in the Baqī Cemetery that existed almost continuously in there during the 3rd to the 14th centuries.

The shrine of the Imams (AS) buried in the Baqī Cemetery, which includes the holy graves of the four infallible Shiite Imams (including Imam Hassan Mujtaba, Imam Zayn al-Abedin, Imam Muhammad Baqir, and Imam Ja'far Sadiq (AS)), is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations for Muslims in Medina. Until less than a hundred years ago, there was a large building and a dome on these tombs which was among the most prominent architectural structures in Medina. Based on original and first-hand historical and geographical references, a brief history of the dome of the graves of the Imams buried in the Baqī Cemetery, including the determination of the date of the construction and its developments and reconstructions in later periods, is provided in this article. The results of this research indicate that the tombs of the Imams buried in Baqī did not have a building until the 5th century AH and the first dome on these tombs was built at the end of this century by the order of Majd al-Mulk Baravestani Qomi (d. 492 AH). The most important architectural developments of this building in the following periods were its first and second destruction by the Wahhabis and its reconstruction in the Ottoman period after the first destruction.

Due to their religious aspects, the cities of Mecca and Medina have always been a destination of pilgrimage for Iranians. The way of dealing with Iranian pilgrims in the holy places of Hejaz has been one of the issues considered by the Iranian society in recent years, and in some cases, the way of interacting with Iranian pilgrims has caused dissatisfaction among pilgrims. This article tries to examine the interaction of the custodians and servants of the Baqī Cemetery with the Iranian pilgrims during the Qajar period. The aim of this study is to answer these basic questions that how the custodians and servants of the Baqī Cemetery dealt with the Iranian pilgrims during the Qajar period and what factors were involved in the way the custodians’ interaction with Iranians. This research is based on the Persian Hajj travelogues in the Qajar period mainly written by the educated people of that period. The results of this study show that the two factors of being Shiite and being Ajam have always been sources of hardship and persecution for the pilgrims of the shrine of the Imams buried in the Baqī Cemetery and these conditions have been much more difficult for Iranians than other pilgrims.

With the resurrection of the Messenger of God (S) and the gradual spread of Islam around the Arabian Peninsula, the Iranians also converted to Islam in a relatively rapid manner following the conquests. It is obvious that the holy shrines have always been the focus of all Muslims from the very beginning as spiritual centers. One of the places that have been blessed in different Islamic periods is the pilgrimage to the Baqī Cemetery and the desire to be buried in there because, in addition to the four Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (AS), many Companions, Followers, and thinkers of every religion and nationality including Iranians were buried in this honorable place. Due to the sanctity of the Baqī Cemetery and the virtue of being buried in there, some officials and thinkers were either transferred to Medina according to their will and buried in the Baqī Cemetery or were naturally buried in that noble cemetery when they died for any reason during the Hajj and pilgrimage to the holy shrine of the Prophet (S). Since a large number of Iranians were buried in the Baqī Cemetery, only some of these figures are discussed in this article, and their biographies are reviewed in historical order. The criterion of being Iranian is their attributions to the cities of Iran in references such as the local histories of Medina which refer clearly to these attributions.

Destruction of the Baqī tombs in Medina by Al-Saud on the 8th of Shawwal (1344 AH) was one of the most important measures of Al-Saud at the beginning of the second domination over Hejaz which had many reflections in Islamic societies; however, according to Shiites, its reflection, due to the destruction of the shrines of the four Shiite Imams, was far greater than those of the Sunnis. In order to enrich this collection as much as possible, the Documents Unit of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Research Institute collected documents related to the Baqī Cemetery, a summary list of which will be presented in three parts

In this article, first, the stories of the first destructions of the Baqī Cemetery and its reconstruction between the two destructions are discussed. Then, the shrines of the Imams buried in the Baqī Cemetery are described in a number of the travelogues written before the second destruction. After reviewing the second destruction of the cemetery, Iran’s relevant reaction, especially the role of the Howayda family, is examined based on historical documents. The method of this article is narrative-historical and relies on library references

In this article, Allameh Mohammad Hussein Sharaf al-Din’s correspondence on the destruction of the Baqī Cemetery is examined and accordingly his role in the reaction of Shiite scholars to this event is analyzed. Sharaf al-Din played an important role in informing, consolidating, and boycotting Hajj by Islamic countries, as well as trying for militarily confronts of Islamic countries led by Yemen with Al-Saud. His only recent measure failed due to his wrong thoughts about Imam Yahya of Yemen. In this article, Sharaf al-Din’s correspondence in forms of press releases, his correspondence with the scholars of ʿAtabāt -i ʿAlīyāt, and a letter to the court of Imam Yahya, King of Yemen, were all chronologically translated for the first time and analyzed according to the historical method.